# Soap vs. Poop - a question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357 "2008-02-12T22:46:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/21 "2008-02-13T05:27:43Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] I’m not sure why someone up thread said that you’re technically “not supposed” to use the soap bar itself. I’ve never used a wash cloth, and I’m f… [/QUOTE] You’re f? This reminds me of the “only black people use washcloths” thread inspired by the Dave Chapelle sketch. I’d throw the soap out, in that scenario. I’d never get to that point though, because I can’t recall ever having rubbed a bar of soap directly onto something dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/22 "2008-02-13T05:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] You’re f? This reminds me of the “only black people use washcloths” thread inspired by the Dave Chapelle sketch. [/QUOTE] No, apparently I died. You know. From germs. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/23 "2008-02-13T05:34:51Z")
Oh, I see. :smack: Apparently it’s too late/early for me to think straight. I tried substituting Freudian Slit, and female for the f. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/24 "2008-02-13T05:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] I’d throw the soap out, in that scenario. I’d never get to that point though, because I can’t recall ever having rubbed a bar of soap directly onto something dirty. [/QUOTE] But what about the washcloth or hand or loofah that touched the dirt? Do you throw it out before it touches the soap? How do you know whatever you used is completely poop free by the time you reach for more soap? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/25 "2008-02-13T05:57:44Z")
My washcloths and scrubbers go through a round in the washing machine with bleach before they get used again. If they were particularly disgusting, I’d just toss it. They’re cheap. I can’t even recall the last time I used bar soap though\* so this is mostly hypothetical for me. They don’t need to be sterile, but I’d rather minimize the amount of live, harmful bacteria (or the toxins they’ve produced) that gets ground into my skin. \*When did the body wash trend take off? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/26 "2008-02-13T06:04:22Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] But what about the washcloth or hand or loofah that touched the dirt? Do you throw it out before it touches the soap? How do you know whatever you used is completely poop free by the time you reach for more soap? [/QUOTE] It’s difficult, but not impossible, to throw away one’s hand. ---
**Author:** ![ShermanAter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/27 "2008-02-13T06:46:03Z")
I use liquid soap. Bar soap gives me the willies ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/28 "2008-02-13T07:59:26Z")
And why are you rubbing soap directly on the disgusting thing, rather than soaping up a towel or sponge, and using THAT to clean? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/29 "2008-02-13T08:03:33Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] First, get a vegetable peeler you don’t want any more … [/QUOTE] Yes indeedy although I have used a cheese grater on occasion 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/30 "2008-02-13T10:53:43Z")
> [@](#): > > At the risk of getting too personal, I’m having a hard time imagining how you take a shower. You don’t wash your face when you take a shower? Or you have two bars of soap? I squirt some face wash on my washcloth and then hop in the shower. I wash my face first. I use the bar soap in the tub to lather up other bits, but my face seems to dry up too much if I use bar soap on it. This might be because I wash my face a couple of times a day. On the other end, I use wet wipes whenever the occasion requires, as well as dry toilet tissue. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/31 "2008-02-13T11:13:19Z")
I work at a preschool, and my first impulse is to say: _this is why we use pumps of liquid handwash._ The logical part of my brain says 2, because the germs can’t live on the soap itself, but my gut instinct says it’s going to take 4. Mind you, I wouldn’t put a bar of soap directly on my face in any event - might as well just have all the moisture sucked out of my skin by vacuum pump - but to be clean enough to lather up a washcloth or my hands and then use the lather to wash my face, it would be 4. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/32 "2008-02-13T11:14:16Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] On the bright side, you can’t give yourself MRSA, right? …right? [/QUOTE] Actually, I’m pretty sure you can. Lots of people carry MRSA without it becoming a dangerous infection (I think in the nasal passages). So if you’re a carrier and you transfer the bacteria into an open wound, particularly one where the circulation is poor, you can be in serious trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/33 "2008-02-13T14:38:41Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] \*When did the body wash trend take off? [/QUOTE] In my house it was around the time that my girlfriend decided to somehow manage to soak my bar of Irish Spring the entire time she was in the shower turning it into a cold ball of mush by the time I took a shower. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/34 "2008-02-13T16:04:08Z")
[QUOTE=SiXSwordS] If another bar of soap is used for the cleaning one runs afoul of the cat-in-the-hat matrix and might potentially dirty the entire planet. [/QUOTE] Can we just have a moment of silence to admire the jewel-like perfection of this contribution? …… Okay, back to imaginary poop-soap! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/35 "2008-02-13T16:07:45Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] I swear I just don’t get the people who are so squeamish about dirt and germs. \ At the risk of getting too personal, I’m having a hard time imagining how you take a shower. [/quote] Imagination not necessary, I may be OCD, but I’m not shy. [QUOTE=commasense] You don’t wash your face when you take a shower? Or you have two bars of soap? [/QUOTE] But seriously, I don’t think I’m OCD and I am actually quite shy. I wash my face with ‘face wash’ because I have some basic skin problems. If there is something germy to clean up, I often use water/bleach in a spray bottle and paper towels so I can throw them away. I have even been known to throw away rags and wash cloths because they were used to, for example, clean up dog diarrhea. (FWIW, the wash cloths were on the floor when the dog lost her composure.) The thing I tend to get weird about is handling raw chicken. I used to get whole chickens and cut them up myself to save a little money. It started to get a little expensive though since I pretty much had to move afterward or spend a week sanitizing. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/36 "2008-02-13T16:20:50Z")
Okay, not using soap on your face because of skin problems is perfectly understandable. I guess at least _some_ of you people aren’t _quite_ as weird as I thought. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/37 "2008-02-13T16:28:26Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] Think blooody diarrheeia foeces so foul, it refuses to be spelled right. [/QUOTE] I have nothing to contribute. I merely wanted to add that the above phrase made me snort coffee out my nose. Fortunately, it did not land on anything that needed to be washed. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/38 "2008-02-13T20:07:46Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] Okay, not using soap on your face because of skin problems is perfectly understandable. I guess at least _some_ of you people aren’t _quite_ as weird as I thought. 😃 [/QUOTE] Well, actually, I’m even weirder. Just not in that particular way. ---
**Author:** ![AndLuna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@AndLuna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndLuna)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357/39 "2008-02-13T23:04:21Z")
Depending on how extravagant i was feeling, I might just throw it out and open a new bar. Otherwise, I suppose I’d go for the third “until it smells only of soap” option. (Actually, I am slightly squicked by the idea that anyone would go for the first two options, given what the third one implies. Call me crazy and germphobic, but I’d really prefer not to wash my face with anything that smells of poop.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soap-vs-poop-a-question/437357.md?page=1)